Window operator



June 5, 1951 A. RAPPL ETAL WINDOW OPERATOR 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 29, 1945 INVENTO R5 M WWW/94M M w a ATTORNEYS June 5, 1951 A. RAPPL ET AL 2,555,859

WINDOW OPERATOR Filed Jan. 29, 1945 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 /-4IENTORS C204 ATTORNEYS June 5, 1951 A. RAPPL ET-AL WINDOW OPERATOR 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Jan. 29, 1945 Fig. 9.

v INVENTORS M WW%%W;

ATTORNEYS Patented June 5, 1951 WINDOW OPERATOR Anton Rappl,

Eggertsville, and Marshall H.

Thomson, Williamsville, N. Y., assignors to Trico Products Corporation, Buffalo, N. Y.

Application January 29, 1945, Serial No. 575,069

4 Claims.

This invention relates to a window operator and particularly to one whereby the window, or other closure which is comprehended within the term window as used herein, may be readily adjusted manually or otherwise.

The primary object of the invention is to provide a window operator which the window may be regulated by a small effort thereby adapting the same for use with a hand cranking operation. Again the invention has for its object to provide a manually actuated window adjuster embodying a flexibility of construction and design which will facilitate the installation of the adjuster in a modern motor vehicle.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a window operator employing a flexible transmission which is supported in a manner to operate efficiently and at the same time embody means for preventing unauthorized entry into the vehicle from without.

These and other objects will appear as the description progresses, reference beinghad to the accompanying drawings wherein:

Fig. l is an elevation of the preferred embodiment of the window operator or adjuster;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view thereof;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged detailed view showing the cable guard;

Fig. 4 is a transverse section about on line 4-4 of Fig. 1 showing more particularly the window counterbalance and lock mechanism;

Fig. 5 is a vertical section about on line 5-5 of Fig. 4;

Figs. 6 and 7 are detailed views showing the manner of mounting the window on its cable suspension;

Fig. 8 is an elevation of the modified embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 9 is a fragmentary top plan view thereof; and

Figs. 10 and 11 are detailed views of a modified window lock.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, the numeral I designates a side window of an automobile which is vertically slidable in guides 2 and is'mounted by bracket arms 3 on the vertical active flights 4 of an endless flexible transmission generally indicated at 5. A tubular guide Bimay be fixed to each bracket arm for slidably receiving a flight carried lug I, the same being secured to the flight as by means of a screw 8. The guide 6 is slotted at 9 to permit the transmission cable to play therein as the lug moves back and forth in the guide in response to any non-parallelism between the active flights 4 and thewindow guides 2.

-The active flights are supported by pulleys I0 and II journaled on a frame shown herein as collapsible toward greater facility when installing the same. To this end the frame illustrated in Fig. 1 comprises a body frame member I2 and upper and lower arms l3 pivotally connected thereto atvertically paced points and all preferably of channel design. The pulleys "ll are car-- ried at the outer ends of the arms while the pulleys I I are journaled on offsetting terminal portions I4 of the body I2. This offsetting formation enables the arms I3 to be folded more compactly and also disposes the inactive flight within the channel of the body for protection. When distended to their operative position the arms are anchored on the door or vehicle structure by suitable fasteners I5 which serve to mount the collapsible frame.

By this construction the frame may be readily inserted through a small entranceway and thereafter expanded for proper installation in the confined quarters within the window well. The extent of collapse will depend upon the design and flexibility of the frame, and in order to hold the cable against displacement from the pulley wheels the frame is provided with guard fingers I6 which overhang the peripheries with a protective clearance. Consequently, when the frame is opened or expanded the transmission will properly adjust itself to an operative cable-taut position on its supporting pulleys.

A spring drum II serves to counterbalance the weight of the window, the drum being jlournaled on a stub shaft I8 that is carried by the body I2, or an extension I2 thereof. Within the drum chamber 22 is arranged the counterbalance spring I9 the same having its opposite ends anchored in seats 20 and 2i provided respectively in the wall of the chamber 22 and in a cup 23 that is fixed on the body extension I2 about the hub ll of the drum. The window supporting cable 5 after taking over the four pulleys II} and II is shown as retaking about the pulleys II before passing several times about the counterbalancing drum I1. This disposes the two active flights 4 on the same corresponding sides of the pulleys and consequently the window engaging lug-s I are spaced apart the same distance substantially as are the pulley axes. The periphery of the drum is formed with a spiral groove 24 to receive such several turns of the drive portion 5' of the cable, and an anchor pin 25 may be provided in a seat 26 to secure the cable firmly against slippage. It will be apparent that as the window is raised or lowered the cable will rotate the drum either against or with the urge of the counterbalance spring.

For manually rotating the drum to adjust the Window a hand crank 21 is fixed on a shaft 28 which latter is journaled in the body extension I2. Rotatable upon this shaft is a drum driving gear 29 which has its teeth 30 meshing with teeth 3| on the drum and relieved intermediate their ends to receive the turns of cable upon the drum. A gear driving head or disk 32 is fixed on the shaft 28 within the chamber 33 of the gear and surrounding this disk with suflicient clearance to receive an expansible and contractible friction lock 34 is a fixed cup 35 having an annular flange against which the lock may normally ex pand. The; lock is shown as a coiled spring with its opposite terminals 36 turned in between opposing shoulders 31 on the disk 32. A lug 38 on the gear 29 extends between the terminals 36. The result is that a window imparted urge on the gear 29 will cause the lug 38 to move against one or the other of the inturned terminals 36 and expand the lock spring more firmly against the fixed part 35 for holding the window against movement while the hand cranking operation of the shaft 28 will cause one or the other of the opposing shoulders 31 to move into contact with the corresponding terminal and contract the spring for freeing the gear and thereafter act through such terminal and the lug 38, to rotate thegear.

This arrangement therefore embodies a flexible transmission having intermeshing .drive and driven gears with a counterbalance spring associated withone gear and a window actuated lockingdevice cooperating between the other gear and. the hand crank, and while the crank shaft 28 with its disk 32 and the encircling lock spring 34' couldbe disposed within the fixed cup 23 and thereby eliminate the gear 29 the illustrated embodiment. is practical for ease of, assembly and repair and also sturdy and durable in operation. If desired, the drive gear 29a may be disposed at the inner side of the counterbalance gear or drum Ila as; indicated in Figs. 8 and 9, wherein a slightly different shape of transmission frame 12a. is depicted. The double acting lock 34 will serve tofurtherprevent the counterbalance from unwinding when the frame is collapsed.

In Figs. and 1 1 there is illustrated a modified window lock wherein the lug 38a is relieved at 39' so as. to avoid engagement with the ter 'minal 36a while permitting driving contact at 40 with the shoulder 37a. The lug will act through the opposite terminal 36a to lock the window in the aforedescribed manner, but. Will avoid locking the window when moved in the opposite direction because of the cut out 39. Thus the window may be lifted to a closed position by.- manually grasping the same from without the vehicle and thereby avoid the necessity of re-entering the latter for this particular purpose when it. has been discovered that a window was left open after looking the vehicle. The cups 23: and 35 may be welded to the body extension, a. clamping sleeve 4| and nut 42 being provided where the crank shaftpasses through the finishing panel (not shown).

From the foregoing it will appear that a window operator has been devised which is practical and durable while at the same time a construction is provided which will facilitate the installation of the operator within the restricted wall space or compartment of an automobile. The window is given a flexible suspension which is counterbalanced ina novel manner and secured against unauthorized adjustment from its given position. The-foregoing description has been given in detail for clarity and-not by way of limitation since it is obvious that the inventive principles involved: are susceptible of other physical embodiments without departing from the spirit of the invention and the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is: 1. A window operator comprising a frame having a body with spaced arms on one side foldable thereon, a flexible member mounted on the frame to provide a window supporting portion, a drum member journaled on the body, and a drive member J'ournaled on the body laterally'ofthe drum,

said drum member and said drivemember having laterally spaced sets of peripheral teeth intermeshing with the flexible member having a part taking about one member between the spaced sets of intermeshing teeth for being confined by the latterto its operative position. 7

2. A window operating unit comprising a frame having a body part carrying a pair of substantially parallel and outstanding arms, wheels journaled on the outer ends of the arms and also at spaced points on the body part, an endless flexible transmission taking about the four wheels to provide spaced window supportingportions. and a drive portion, meansv en ged with the drive portion for moving the flexible transmission back and forth, said transmission extending. across the space from one to the other of the two Wheelson the outer ends of the arms, said arms being pivotally mounted on the opposite ends ofthe body part for folding to enable insertion of the. frame into a confined space, and means for holding the transmission onto its supporting Wheels during such folding of the frame.

3. A window operating unit comprising a. frame having a body and spaced pivotally mounted arms foldable thereon to a collapsed position, pulleys on the outer ends of the arms and on the body providing four points of support, an endless flexible transmission member supported by'the pulleys to form spaced substantially parallel flights each having a window supporting part, guard means overhanging the peripheries of the pulleys to re.- tain the transmission member thereon when the frame is'collapsed, and means on the body engaged with the transmission member for moving the same back and forth.

4. A window operator comprising a frameha-Y- ing a body with spaced arms on one side foldable thereon, pulleys on the frame, an endless. flexible member mounted on the pulleys to, provide a window supporting portion, means coacting with the pulleys to confine the flexible member thereto when the frame is folded, said. body'having an intermediate extension on the opposite side, a drive member journaled on the body extension, said flexible member having a part; taking about said drive, and means. acting to confine the-flexible member to the drive member against displacement when the frame is folded.

ANTON RAPPL. MARSHALL H. THOMSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file. of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS:

Number Name Date- 1,343,410 Simpson et al June 15, 1920 1,432,058 Fogalet a1 Oct. 1'7, 1922 1,463,422 Heintz July 31,1923 1,490,065 Ainsworth Apr. 8, 1924 1,570,654 Wallace Jan. 26, 1926 1,606,712 McArthur Nov. 9, 1926 1,638,197 Heintz Aug. 9, 1927 1,640,931 Gettner Aug. 30, 1927 1,827,746 Hansen Oct. 20, 1931 2,370,740 Lundell Mar. 6, 1945 2,382,791 Hill Aug. 14, 1945 2,390,617 Rappl Dec. 11, 1945 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 581,285 Germany July 25, 1933 780,604 France Feb.- 4', 1935 

